THE CHURCH AND THE PEOPLE.

NZ Truth, Issue 74, 17 November 1906, Page 4

THE CHURCH AND THE PEOPLE.

Given proper prominence ju- another page of -this issue is a letter irom the van oi a clergyman depionng iiie tendency of the masses io drill into' iniiiiierenee towards the Church. In pessimistic, ■•if not -iiespamuK tones, he admits that this listilesK-ness is serio-us, to the Church ; more to Ise dreaded .than aggressive hostility; and that apparently, the Church is powerless to offer, any resistance to that spirit of "indiifei'clic^ so manifest in l ;tfits masses. Kealjy |hfi- Oh lifch js going oiit of -faJjlnbiVl. ■.;.■' A'Thisj." is : % rational age. Blind, superstition' is, ?>eing ' daily .superseded 1 ' by sublime coin frilbn-asiisc. Like ' Othello,'; the parson ' will soon find his occupation gone. ■ Since the Reformation the Church has, nb doubt, successfully contended against aggressive hostility. But it does not seem to have occurred to "Clereyman" that that "aggressive hostility" did not emanate from the masses. She contended against thrones, against Governments, but never against the masses. Under the iron heel of the Church the masses were ground down. More often it was the neople that fought; the fight of the Church against v the Throne and against Go^rninentfl. The people are the power and it was but. natural that the Church leading such, an army should succeed. The Church m her turn forsook those who had given her power. She allied herself with forces that threatened every lilter.tiV held by a liberty-loving nation. "Clergyman" admits this, for he says :

'In the earlier times . . Ecclesiastical influences dominated Governments, moulded such public opinion as there was to mould, and generally speaking, shaped and directed all popular and national movements."

"Clergyman" forg-ets to add that Ecclesiastical influence attempted to strangle every popular movement of reform and was gradually beaten down till she (the Churcli) became the fawning mistress, of the great and wealthy. who were soon taught that it was the people and none but the people who were to rule. The Church has fallen to a low estate. She can never again direct the earthly destinies of man. The Church deserted the masses. The masses have never deserted the Church. Where she used the rack, the stocks arid the gibbet, the masses have wielded a far more formidable weapon. Cold and cheerless indifference is Gradually bringing the Church to its senses. "Come back to us" she ori»s, for J getting all the time that she is the deserter.

Deep historical research is not necessary to prove the desertion of the Church. Daily events around us show how she betrays the people— those who made her what she once was ami what she is never again destined to be. Is it at all necessary to remind "Clergyman," who writes m ajl good faith, of the daily merciless, mercenary manuoevres of the Parsons m Australasia, who are forever seeking to trample down the birth-rights and liberties of the people ; to make us ' religious and slavishly amenable by Acts of Parliament ? In these civilised days the Church is attempting by covert acts to do what she would have openly done m days gone by had not reason prevailed. If Ecclesiastical influence was still dominant would life be worth living : would the British race b>3 what it is to-day. "Truth" gives "Clergyman" the credit of possessing a reasonable reason ina: mind ; but would he have us dominated by the Church ? Church and reliction ate not consonant with progress. The ascend ancv of the Church would throw us back into the sunerstition and the irmoranrc of the mediaeval ages. Though he does not, and he confesses he cannot, offer any

definite suggestion; "Clergyman" imagines, no doubt, that there is a remedy for the listlessness of the masses and that is, to use his own

words

"New methods will have to be adopted, and that ecclesiastical science, like every other, must keep step with the march of modern thought."

No better answer to this suggested onward march of ecclesiastical science can be found than m the words of Macaulay, taken from his masterful essay on Ranke's "History of the Popes."

"All Divine truth, is, according to the doctrine of the Protestant Churches, recorded m certain oooks. It is equally open to all who, m any age, can read those books ; nor can all / the discoveries of all the philosophers m the world add a single verse t 0 any of those books. It is plain, therefore, that m divinity there cannot be a progress analogous to that Which is constantly takirin: place m pharmacy, geology and navigation. A Christian of the fifth century with a Bible is neither better nor worse situated than a Christian of the nineteenth century- with a Bible", candour and natural acuteness being, of course, supposed equal. . . .

It seems to us, therefore, that we have no security for the future against the prevalence of any theological error that ever has prevailed m time past among Christian men.

What gigantic strides have been made m science since Macaulay's days ; but how have Divinity, theology or ecclesiasticisin fared •? She has been gradually losing caste ; constantly emancipation herself from the masses, till to-day 'we find her sans the support of her one time greatest supporters. Whoever now-a-days • finds m a parson a champion of the people ? Some have attempted it but with sordid . ulterior motives. They were found out. They placed G-o'd and Religion on a business basis. Religion, as preached by the black - coated parson, is made a trade of by him. He is now finding a difficulty m making the game pay. Collection results are falling: off ; stipends are unpaid, and the masses are m consequence interdicted and 'refused religious solace. The religion of the Church is as a voice m the wilderness ; the religion of to-day is natural. It needs no priest nor parson to spread its teachings. The religion of humanity .springs eternal m every breast. The popular cry of the future will be "down with the parson." We are afraid ihat, much as we would like it. no assistance or information can be afforded "Clergyman".' m his dilemma. The masses certainly cried for bread and the Church cave .them a stone. The Church has had its innings. The People are now taking 1 heirs'.